King William II decided to make sure that the kinfolk of the Princess needed to be kept in line, so he held Nest as a hostage to his court to keep the people at bay and under control.
It was during this time in the 1090s that while at the King’s court, Nest became the mistress of Henry, the younger brother of William. She bore the future King Henry I a son. At some point during the decade, Nest was betrothed to Gerald de Windsor, a court representative in Southwest Wales. And she married him in 1100.
Nest and Gerald had five children together. Angharad, one of the children, became the mother of the 12th century historian Giraldus Cambrensis.
In 1110, Nest and Gerald were visited at Carew by Owain ap Cadwgan, a distant cousin of the princess. Owain was so enamored with the beautiful Nest he was determined to have her as his own.
Owain Led a night raid into the castle and kidnapped Nest, who was a more than willing victim according to ledged. Nest and her children were taken back to Owain’s domain and before Nest returned to Carew she gave birth to two of Owain’s children.
And what of Gerald? He was made to suffer the indignity of escaping down a toilet shaft, which his wife had encouraged him to do. The shaft in which he escaped his fate can still be seen in the castle today.
As for Owain, he may have won the battle and taken nest, but he ultimately lost the war. Gerald extracted his revenge by killing Owain in an ambush many years later.
When Gerald died, Nest was not yet ready to retreat into widowhood. She married Stephen, the castellan of Cardigan and continued to have more children.
The children of Nest and the men in her life started some the most prolific dynasties in history. The Fitzgerald, Fitzroy, Fitzstephen and Fitzowens family trees all started with Nest and her assorted husbands and lovers. Fitz is from the French word meaning son, so roughly Fitzgerald means son of Gerald, and so on. Nest was a beautiful woman who contributed much to Welsh and world history. She still is in Carew Castle, a lady in white, drifting along the passages and meandering through the rooms of the place she called home.
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